Victim Alleges Priest's Abuse Occurred Many Times
By Mindy Aguon
A Talofofo resident alleges he was subjected to repeated sex abuse by former Guam priest Andrew Mannetta while he attended San Miguel Church in Talofofo in the 1980s. The man, identified through initials N.Q. to protect his privacy due to the graphic nature of the child sex abuse allegations, filed a civil complaint with the Superior Court of Guam through his attorney Anthony C. Perez. The lawsuit alleges that N.Q. began helping out at the Talofofo church in 1985 when he was 15 years old. Mannetta was the parish priest at the time and gradually increased contact with N.Q., inviting him to eat, drink and watch television in the parish rectory. The lawsuit alleges Mannetta began offering the teen sacramental wine and providing x-rated videos for him to watch. The priest then suggested N.Q. take naps at the rectory and frequently began giving long and "powerful" hugs while sniffing and kissing the boy’s face and body, the lawsuit states. On several occasions, Mannetta allegedly threw N.Q. on the bed and other times ordered him to lay down on his stomach. Mannetta allegedly would give N.Q. full body massages with an emphasis on his buttocks and then sexually abused him, according to the lawsuit. N.Q. maintains he was sexually abused more than 50 times and quit attending church when he could "no longer handle the pain, humiliation, and embarrassment inflated upon him by Father Andy," the lawsuit states. The victim said he remained silent about the abuse and turned to drugs in an effort to "self-medicate." The complaint accuses the Archdiocese of Agana of engaging in a "pattern and practice of protecting perpetrators including, at times, shuttling the perpetrators to distant and sometimes remote locations, putting children including N.Q. at further risk of harm," attorney Perez wrote. Additionally, the suit accuses the archdiocese of exposing children to exploitation and sexual abuse by their perpetrators. Mannetta has been accused of sexual abuse by three other individuals on Guam who have filed similar lawsuits. The former priest, who now resides in Danbury, Connecticut was also accused of abuse by other children and altar boys in Hawaii that resulted in civil settlements. Manetta was defrocked in 2002 and has further undergone treatment for sexual issues and alcohol abuse and has admitted to providing alcohol to minor boys, court documents state. Attorney Perez has requested damages be proven at trial and a Superior Court judge impose equitable relief requiring the archdiocese to: • post on the home page of its web sites the names of all known members of the archdiocese who are identified in the complaints and known to the archdiocese as sexual abusers; • establish a toll-free number and website where anonymous abuse complaints can be made; • adopt a whistle blower policy concerning the method by which a report concerning abuse can be made and ensuring the archdiocese will not take any retaliatory actions against persons who report such information in good faith; • ensure the archbishop or bishop in Guam be available to have a private conference with any survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a priest, educational, religious, or other agent of the archdiocese; • send letters of apology to the plaintiffs and taking responsibility for the abuse; and • ensure that any future settlement related to sexual abuse entered into by the archdiocese not contain any confidentiality provision except at the written request of the victim. The case is the 61st lawsuit filed against the Catholic Church on Guam.
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